FiiO’s latest closed-back headphones come with huge drivers for better bass

FiiO's striking-looking FT13 closed-back headphones are finally available to buy after touring some of the audio shows this summer.

The £289 / $299 / €274 / AU$499 over-ears come with distinctive "purpleheart" wooden ear cups sourced from South American rainforests, and promise to combine traditional craftsmanship with audiophile-grade performance.

The heart of the FT13 is the comparatively huge 60mm dynamic driver. It sports a W-shaped diaphragm, which the company claims delivers a much larger vibration area, resulting in improved efficiency, reduced distortion and significantly improved bass.

The diaphragm is made from wool composite nano-fibre, and the closed-back design reduces ambient noise by up to 26dB. Frequency response is 7Hz to 40kHz, while impedance is 32 ohms.

FiiO FT13: key features

The purpleheart wood isn't just about looking good. FiiO says that the rigid material provides "exceptional" acoustic performance and that it's "solidly hard".

The material has been used in musical instruments since the 1920s and FiiO ages it for months. That allows its distinctive colour to develop before the wood is CNC carved, polished and lacquered.

The downside of the wood and those larger drivers is that despite their magnesium alloy headband, these headphones are quite heavy. They weigh-in at 356g, excluding the cable – that's considerably heavier than similarly priced wireless over-ears.

It's also worth noting that similar designs from FiiO tend to be a little on the small side, so if like me you have larger ears they may be quite a tight fit.

The wooden ear cups are complemented by lambskin pads, with suede alternatives also included. The headphones come with a Furukawa monocrystalline copper and silver-plated oxygen-free copper cable, and there are four sets of audio plugs, at 3.5mm, 4.4mm, 6.35mm, and XLR-4.

The FiiO FT13 headphones are available now from the likes of Amazon and specialist retailers.